Mix-up victim broke but battling

By JAMES GARDINER

A Scottish woman whose claim for $1 million in damages from New Zealand police failed this week has vowed to fight for justice after "10 years of hell".

Margaret Fyfe, 59, says her life and career have been ruined by mental stress she suffered as a result of a bungled police operation in Otaki and Wellington when her husband was mistaken for a notorious armed robber.

The couple and two nephews were ordered from their car at gunpoint, forced to the ground, handcuffed and searched, then taken into custody without being arrested or read their rights.

Mrs Fyfe said she had no idea at first that the men were police.

On September 22, 1993, Mrs Fyfe and her husband, Robert, were visiting relatives in Otaki when a retired detective, who had arrested Leslie Maurice "Mo" Green 12 years earlier, saw Mr Fyfe on the street and thought he was Green.

Green, described in a High Court judgment this week as a master of disguise and a suspected murderer, was wanted for a series of bank holdups here and in Australia.

He had gained notoriety 20 years earlier when he took a then-record haul in a burglary of a Wellington jeweller. He used a .44 Magnum and was believed to carry it at all times.

A 6-year-old photograph of him had been widely circulated among police and published in newspapers and broadcast on television.

Several reported sightings from around the country had proved false. Police intelligence on Green suggested he had a bush hideout in the Tararua Ranges.

A major police operation swung into place after an Otaki constable went to check on Mr Fyfe, found him in a shop and, from the photograph, said he was "100 per cent certain" he was Green.

Two police officers checked into a motel next to the house where "Green" was staying.

The next day the Fyfes were seen getting into a car with two men, their nephews. Police assumed it was an early morning getaway, although a home video the family produced showed it was, in Justice Eddie Durie's words, an emotional farewell by departing relatives.

Police tailed the car into Wellington in rush-hour traffic. Six members of the armed offenders squad were in two cars that positioned themselves directly in front of and behind the car the Fyfes were in.

Outside Wellington Railway Station, traffic halted and police swooped, pointing their guns and shouting at the occupants of the car to get out and down on the ground. They were handcuffed, searched and taken to the central police station in separate cars.

During the trip, the head of the squad, Inspector Grant O'Fee, realised he had the wrong man.

The Fyfes sued Mr O'Fee and the Attorney-General (on behalf of the police) in 1995 but the case was delayed by legal arguments. In 2001 the Fyfes had to find a new lawyer after barrister Roger Guy died.

Then, 10 days before the case began last September, Mr Fyfe died of a heart attack.

Mr Fyfe had sought general damages of $35,000. Mrs Fyfe, who Justice Durie said was left in a "piteous condition", sought $100,000 general damages and another $900,000 in lost earnings and pension rights.

Her lawyers argued that police failed to make proper inquiries to establish whether the Otaki sighting was accurate, but Justice Durie ruled there was little more police could have done in the time available, so he could not accept they were negligent.

He said that even though Mrs Fyfe was forced to lie face down on a wet road, handcuffed, searched by a male officer and detained on dubious or no authority,police had reasonable grounds to suspect they were dealing with Green and he could be armed.

Once they realised their mistake, they detained the Fyfes only as long as it took to cut off the plastic handcuffs.

But the High Court at Wellington heard that the Fyfes were held in separate rooms at the police station and subjected to questioning.

Justice Durie said there was no question that Mrs Fyfe suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder and had required treatment, which was not covered by ACC because it was a mental injury. There was a dispute as to the extent that the incident caused that injury.

Speaking from her home in East Kilbride, near Glasgow, yesterday, Mrs Fyfe said she was bitterly disappointed and determined to "fight to the end".

She had been unable to return to her high-paid job with Motorola. Her husband's death made her more determined to continue the case but now she cannot afford the $3000 for his headstone when it arrives next month.

"It's ruined my health. My nerves were shattered. I couldn't do nothing but cry. Now I've got nothing. All I want is justice and compensation for what I've been through."

Her barrister, Graham Taylor, said an appeal would be lodged.